


No Longer Running

by MrsHamill



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternative Perspective, Episode Tag, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-11-08
Updated: 2006-11-08
Packaged: 2018-05-21 11:51:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6050590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrsHamill/pseuds/MrsHamill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ronon's surprised to be home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Longer Running

**Author's Note:**

> A short tag for _Sateda_. 30toseoul said we don't get enough Ronon-centric fic. She's right.

He was used to waking up all at once, able to go from sleep to running with no stages in-between. So waking up slowly nearly caused him to panic -- then Ronon heard a familiar, whiny voice and realized it was all right. He was in the infirmary in Atlantis and McKay was complaining. Everything must be okay.

"Dammit, Carson, you don't have to be so rough!"

"Rodney, you are the biggest baby I've--"

"You've already said that. It _hurts_ , Carson, I'm sorry if that offends your sensibilities but it does!"

"It's very nearly healed, Rodney, so I don't see how it can--"

"It's because it's a wound in muscle," Ronon said. His voice sounded pretty raw but still able to cut through McKay's whining.

"There now, you see? You've woken Ronon up with your whinging."

McKay made a rude noise but shortly the curtain around his bed opened and he appeared, pulling up and fastening his pants. "I wouldn't have been _whinging_ if you hadn't insisted on hurting me. Are we done, here?"

"Yes, Rodney, we're done. You're healing fine." Beckett's sounded tired and frustrated. He gave Ronon a glance and a smile. "I'll be with you in a moment, my lad," he said, stripping his gloves off.

"No hurry, doc." 

McKay glared at Beckett then turned to Ronon. "How're you doing?"

"I'm okay."

McKay gave him a narrow-eyed stare. "Is that okay as in 'I feel pretty good' or okay as in 'I'm in significant pain but I'm too macho to admit it?'"

Ronon grinned. Once you got used to him, McKay was pretty amusing. He'd still go a long, long way to avoid being trapped on a hive ship with him again, though. "I hurt, but it doesn't matter because the drugs are good and my head is floating way up there."

"That's good. And if that voodoo practitioner doesn't keep giving you those good drugs, you tell me and I'll beat him into it." 

"Yeah, right." Ronon was still grinning and McKay grinned back. "How about you -- okay?"

"It hurts like a son of a bitch, not that Carson understands that," McKay replied, once again glaring at Beckett.

"That's because it's in muscle," Ronon said. "And your ass is a big muscle. It takes longer for muscle to heal from a puncture wound."

"Oh, yeah?" McKay blinked thoughtfully. "How'd you know that?"

Ronon found himself answering honestly, without his usual self-censor. "My wife. She was a doctor." The drugs must be better than he thought.

"Your wife?" McKay's face looked stricken and his voice matched. "You were married?"

"Yeah."

"She... she died on..."

"On Sateda, yeah." Ronon swallowed hard. "During the attacks."

"They didn't, I mean the Wraith didn't--"

"No." Ronon shook his head. "Building blast." He blinked, trying to banish the vision of Malina engulfed in flames. "Better that way."

"Yeah." McKay looked down and sighed. "You didn't have any kids, did you?"

"No." No, they were going to wait until her residency was completed, until she had a permanent post. Ronon still couldn't figure out if he was happy or sad about that.

"God. I'm sorry, Ronon."

"It was a long time ago."

"But still." McKay nodded when Ronon did. After a few minutes of silence, McKay sighed again and said, "Well, I'd sit and visit except I can't sit."

Ronon snorted. "You sat pretty well on the ship."

"Yeah, well, that's the good thing about narrow seats. You can have one half hanging." He rolled his eyes when Ronon chuckled. 

"It could be worse, you know," Ronon said.

McKay gave him a suspicious look. "Oh, yeah? How?"

"Could be your knee. Never get your knees fucked up, McKay. Worse pain than you could even imagine."

McKay's eyes got big. "Maybe I could wear kneepads on missions," he muttered. Ronon grinned again; Sheppard was going to kill him for putting that idea into McKay. "So, listen. You need anything? Something to do? Food?"

"Food's okay. I guess a movie, maybe."

"I could ask around but I'm sure someone's got _Rambo_." 

Ronon laughed out loud, surprising himself. "Already seen it. He wasn't all that much. I could take  him."

McKay crossed his arms in front of his chest and glared, but the effect was ruined by his crooked smile. "Yeah, you probably could, you hyper-testosteroned Neanderthal. How about something funny? You ever seen _The Three Stooges_?"

"I don't think so."

"That's about the right age level for you, I think. All slapstick -- three guys trying to poke each others' eyes out. You'd love it. Somebody's got to have it."

"That'd be great." Ronon let his head fall back on the bed. He was aware he was smiling but he was so drugged up he didn't care. Well, either drugged or relaxed, though he'd prefer drugged. It was hard to let his guard down, even here in his new home, among people who, most remarkably, cared for him.

"In fact, Sheppard probably does," McKay continued. "You two are nothing but big, hairy, overgrown cavemen anyway."

"I am not." Sheppard walked in as McKay was talking. "McKay, what are you doing, are you bothering Ronon?"

"I am not bothering Ronon, I am visiting a member of our team who is in the infirmary," McKay said with great dignity. "And you are so a caveman."

"His whining about his ass woke me up," Ronon said, just to watch McKay puff up and bluster. 

Sheppard winked at Ronon. "Now, that doesn't surprise me in the least. How's the old ass doing, Rodney?"

"My _ass_ is fine, thank you very much," McKay replied, glaring. "Not that you'll be seeing it any time soon with _that_ attitude."

"Rodney!" Sheppard snapped, looking around.

"Oh, please. You think Carson doesn't know? Or Ronon?" McKay turned to Ronon. "You know, don't you?"

It was almost a demand but Ronon could see a few hints of nerves underneath. One of the few things of use to him that Kell taught was how to read people; not that McKay was hard to read. Everything the guy thought showed up on his face. "Yeah, I know. So does Teyla." He didn't miss the small sigh of relief from McKay as he spoke.

"There. See? Quit being so paranoid." McKay slapped Sheppard's arm and Sheppard glared at him.

"So, two warriors fucking isn't acceptable on Earth?" Ronon asked. 

"It depends on the country--" Sheppard started, but McKay, as usual, interrupted him.

"And in his unenlightened -- dare I say backwards? -- country, it is not just frowned upon, it is actively discouraged, which is ridiculous."

"Canadian government has similar restrictions, McKay," Sheppard said, and Ronon could tell this was an old, familiar argument between them. He filed the information away, though, since a good team member always looks out for his leader and other team members. It wouldn't be that difficult, since he felt he was protecting McKay against himself (and everything else in the universe) already. "Anyway," Sheppard said, drowning out McKay, "how you doing?"

"I'm okay." Ronon found himself grinning again. How Sheppard managed to survive fucking McKay without killing him Ronon would never understand, but it did point towards the guy's patience.

"He wants something to watch while he's sitting here waiting for that vampire to release him," McKay said. "Do you have any _Three Stooges_?"

"Well, Carson said you might get busted loose tomorrow morning, depending on how you do tonight," Sheppard said. He turned to McKay. "And no, I don't have any _Stooges_ ; they bug me. But Lorne probably does. I do have Marx Brothers, though, _Animal Crackers_ and maybe _Night at the Opera_ , I'm not sure."

"Eh, too cerebral for Conan here. I'll check with Lorne. Actually, Parrish might have some, he's really grossly lowbrow." He patted Ronon's leg. "I'll have something for you shortly, I promise. In the meantime, stay away from the oatmeal, I think Carson is spiking it with Prozac." McKay turned and walked away, only limping slightly.

Sheppard was shaking his head. "If McKay is bothering you..."

"Nah," Ronon said. "He's pretty funny when he's not droning on and on about dying."

Sheppard's smile was wide and contented. "Yeah, he is." He looked up as Beckett returned to the room. "Here comes Carson, I bet he wants to poke you some. You just holler if you need anything, okay?"

Ronon nodded. Sheppard patted his leg -- the same leg in the same way McKay had done -- and nodded to Beckett as he left the infirmary.

"I think I owe Rodney an apology," Beckett was murmuring, to himself Ronon thought. "And how are we doing today?" he added to Ronon.

"Good drugs, doc," Ronon said, though they were starting to wear off -- his broken ribs were really becoming insistent, making every breath a little harder.

"They should be wearing down on you now," Beckett said, and for the millionth time Ronon wondered how he did that. "I'm going to give you only half as much, which you should be able to work with, given your high threshold of pain. But you had best tell me if the pain gets to be too much."

"I will," Ronon promised, and Beckett beamed at him. 

"Good lad. Let's take a look at your dressings, then." 

Ronon let the doctor poke him and check him over, suffered the little indignities all patients had to go through with good grace. He was happy -- or rather, surprised -- to be alive, and figured that meant he could pretty much tolerate any pain. For a long time, being alive just wasn't all it was cracked up to be. But that had changed, against all odds. He had changed, too.

A couple of hours later, McKay was back (as was Sheppard) with a laptop and a series of bizarre little movies about very strange men who made very strange noises. It was funny enough, once he figured out they weren't actually trying to kill each other. Then Sheppard and McKay got into an argument about something called the road runner and whether Ronon would appreciate it and Ronon actually dozed off. It was good to be home, he realized.

Home.

Safe.

With family. 

Living was actually good, for a change. What a nice surprise.

end


End file.
